2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Thursday, April 3-12:45 pm
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Top-Down Democracy: Can Authoritarianism Promote
Democracy
This paper will discuss authoritarianism from the perspective of
transition to liberal democracy. What are the possibilities and
chances of some forms of authoritarianism to "engineer" the
conditions for a ppeaceful transition to democracy
Folke Birger Lindahl, Michigan State University
lindahl@msu.edu
An Essay Concerning the Salutary Habits of Restraint, or,
"Cultivating Democracy"
Consider the following statement: Should a people’s sacred be
placed on trial before a profane jury, it will henceforth cease to be
divine. That trial must therefore be impeded or prevented though
obstacles–-cultivation through restraint.
Benjamin Patrick Newton, University of Maryland, College Park
bnewton@umd.edu
Contingency, Violence and Freedom: The War on Democracy
This paper argues that the survival of liberal societies depends on
their citizens' understanding of the uses and misuses of violence in
the service of freedom. An awareness of the contingency of liberal
political life is essential in this regard.
Jovian Radheshwar, University of California, Santa Barbara
jovian@umail.ucsb.edu
Sungmoon Kim, University of Maryland, College Park
smkim@gvpt.umd.edu
33-17 ALTERITY IN POLITICS
Room UEH 413 on the 4th Floor, Thur at 12:45 pm
Chair Stefan Dolgert, Williams College
spd5@duke.edu
Paper The Power of Branding: Karl Marx on the Making of the
Working Class
A critical reassessment of Marx's analysis of the formation of the
working class. The latter, it is argued, requires a differentiation
between the free worker and the slave worker, which calls into
question the possibility of a universal proletariat.
Ivan Ascher, University of California, Berkeley
ascher@berkeley.edu
Paper Theorizing the Utility of Rape in War: Alterity and the Ethic of
Protection
What causes mass rape in warfare and why does the international
community fail to intervene in such cases The answer is the
intersection of patriarchy and the notion of otherness, which
produces a conception of mass rape that is dualistic in nature.
Gregory Gilbert Gunderson, Eastern Kentucky University
gregory.gunderson@eku.edu
Rebecca Louise Jones, Eastern Kentucky University
rebecca_jones122@eku.edu
Paper Overcoming the Desire for Social Unity: Postmodernism and
Existentialism
How the postmodern thinkers escape the dichotomy of the
individual and the community is developed by comparing the
thought of Emmanuel Levinas and Nicholas Berdyaev.
Philip J. Harold, Robert Morris University
harold@rmu.edu
Paper Innocent Citizens, Guilty Subjects: Action, Identity, and the
Felon
This paper argues that the contemporary conception of citizenship
in the United States cannot be understood without reference to the
practices of social and political exclusion connected to the criminal
justice system.
Andrew Dilts, University of Chicago
dilts@uchicago.edu
Disc. Stefan Dolgert, Williams College
spd5@duke.edu
34-1 DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY SEEN
THROUGH LITERATURE
Room UEH 404 on the 4th Floor, Thur at 12:45 pm
Chair Catherine Zuckert, University of Notre Dame
czuckert@nd.edu
Paper Fitzgerald, Tocquville, and Democratic Aristocracy
In this paper, I intend to draw out a Tocquevillian conceptualization
of aristocracy and its democratic variant, so as to apply it in an
analysis of the social/economic class relations at the heart of The
Great Gatsby.
David Belanich, Yale University
david.belanich@gmail.com
Paper Churchill and the Advent of Democracy
This paper analyzes My Early Life's exploration of what is gained
and lost in the modern transition from aristocracy to democracy,
situating the judgments found in this text within Churchill's vast
literary output.
Jonathan Silver, Georgetown University
jonathanlsilver@gmail.com
Paper The Leopard and the Last Aristocrat
Leopard is worth studying by students of political thought as a deep
meditation upon human nature in different political organizations,
and how aristocracy and democracy both highlight and suppress
different elements of that nature.
Matthew Holbreich, University of Notre Dame
matt.holbreich@gmail.com
Disc. Joel Alden Schlosser, Duke University
joel.schlosser@gmail.com
35-4 PRIMARIES AND ELECTORAL STRATEGIES I
Room Salon 8 on the 3rd Floor, Thur at 12:45 pm
Chair Steven Callander, Northwestern University
scal@kellogg.northwestern.edu
Paper U.S. Elections: A Model of Sequential Elections With Valence
and Uncertainty
I model a one-dimension, two-stage sequential election. Challengers
select a strategy to maximize winning both a closed primary and
defeating an exogenous incumbent in the general election given
uncertainty over the location of the median voter.
Eldon Grant Porter, Columbia University
egporter@gmail.com
Paper Distributive Politics with Primaries
We develop a model of electoral competition in which two parties
compete for votes amongst three groups of voters. Primary elections
cause politicians to cater to extreme groups rather than a moderate
group with many ``swing voters''.
Hirano Shigeo, Columbia University
sh145@columbia.edu
James M. Snyder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
millett@mit.edu
Michael M. Ting, Columbia University
mmt2033@columbia.edu
Paper Vertical and Horizontal Differentiation with Entry Under
Alternative Electoral Systems
We develop a model of elections with an endogenous number of
parties and horizontal and vertical differentiation under proportional
(PR) and majoritarian (FPTP) electoral systems.
Matias Iaryczower, California Institute of Technology
miaryc@hss.caltech.edu
Andrea Mattozzi, California Institute of Technology
andrea@hss.caltech.edu
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